Study Tour!

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Oh gosh, it has been so long and so much has happened but I must take a crack at recording this or I'll never be able to blog again.
Between July 12th and the 20th, I went on a study tour with my fellow budding furniture designers. 75 of us on one bus including the 3 teachers and the amazingly agile bus driver.
First off we headed northwest in this Danish country. We stopped at a cabinet maker's shop (PP Furniture- www.PPdk.com) and a town hall (Århus Townhall- designed by Arne Jacobsen). Our first hostel was by a lake and we were able to go canoeing and play soccer there. It was cold weather so we didn't take the canoes out but we did (not I) play soccer, explore the woods and chat out on the docks and around a blazing bonfire.
Next stop we headed to Stockholm via an overnight ferry. The first night dinner was served at a place called the Dubliner and the rest of the evening we were on our own. The next day we walked through a whole bunch of extravagantly decorated subways. The humidity and exposure of the earth made it feel like I was walking through a Knott's Berry Farm ride. It was cavernous yet still touched and worn out by man. We went to the Swedish National Museum (not nearly enough time spent there), an architecture museum (www.arkitekturmuseet.se) , a museum about the Vasa ship that sank (www.vasamuseet.se) and then after that we were on our own and my friends and I walked through an aquarium. Ack, see? So much happened every single day. I'm surprised I made it out alive.
The next day we checked out a few showrooms to measure and draw MORE chairs (we've been doing that every where we've been going basically). After thaaaat, they took us to the Woodland Cemetery. It was beautiful. It was so vast and green and peaceful. The sun was shining that day as well with a light breeze. It was just very nice to leisurely walk through the whole cemetery (there were 3 different sections: grassy knolls, foresty area with tall trunks and a gardenesque maze area).
We took a cruise ship/ferry to Helsinki and stayed there for 3 days. I had a reindeer quiche as part of my first lunch in that land. We went to a few Alvar Aalto places (Studio, a Studio/Home, a Concert Hall, a Hospital (sanitorium for tuberculosis)), some show rooms and Eliel Saarinen's house on Wide (Hvitträsk) Lake. We had a lot of time there and were able to go swimming. No one had there bathing suits (our luggage was stuffed away in the bus) so no one went swimming...except for me! I ran about 300 feet down the side path of the lake and went swimming by myself. It was SCARY, exhilarating, one with nature and all that fun stuff.
That last night in Helsinki we headed onto the ferry for Stockholm and the next night by 8:30 we ended our long adventure in the familiar city of Denmark. On the ferry ride I had another 1st time experience of singing karaoke in front of a room of strangers! I had a lot of fun that night as it was our last. Nils-Ole gave a speech about how we needed to be prepared by Monday for THE exam. It was hard to sense that he was joking but oh he was. And Giff thanked the 3 professors for thoroughly pickling our livers... changing our lives forever and all that sappy jazz.

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Comments

[Monica]

pretty!
I'm excited for you Em! The first picture of Woodland Cemetery reminds me of Greenwich Park in London (where TIME originates... kinda! I stood on the Prime Meridian there)... anyway I'm jealous of your travels but can't wait for you to come home so I can see you!